The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1887-09-22
PersIna Women'a Fond dness for the Baih.
The bath takes un n good deal of the


The bath takes up good deal Of the
time Of all Persian women. Even the
poorest will attend the Hammam at
least once a week. For the lady the
bath is one Of the serious affairs Of life,
and takes up daily from two to four
hours Of her time. 1t is something
more than our idea Of a bath. The
victim is scraped and rubbed and par
boiled. The soles OF the feet are
pamiced until they are soft and tender
a. those Of little child. The hair is
thoroughly washed by means of hot
wa.er and the saponaceous clay for
which Shiraz Is celebrated. Then the
attendants mix in . brazen bowl the
aromatic hennx with the requisite
amount Of lemon juice, till brown
paste Of the consistency Of Cruel is
produced, and several handfuls Of
the repulsive.loeking compound are
smoared over the lady's head. Then
the hair, collected into mass, is bound
up with cabbage.leaves. Small guam
titles Of the dye are smeared over the
eyebrows the soles Of the feet. toes,
the palms Of the hands and the finger
tips are also covered with it. And
now the lady has to sit perfectly still
for from one to three hours. till, like
meerschaum pipe, she colors and it is
exactly the color obtained on the heat
specimens of pipes that is most fashion
able among the Persian ladies. Day
after day the bath is thronged with
women, each sitting perfectly still for
the color to take" But they have
their reward, for the henna dies the
Eair beautiful deep warm chestnut
hsnce gray hair is unknown among
Persian ladies. While the coloring
process has been going on tongues have
been running. and good deal of scan.
dal has been exchanged, The female
barber, with pair Of tweezers. has re-
moved every outlying hair frnm the
region of the lady's eyebrows 1t is
the ambition of every Persian woman
that her eyebrows shall meet. or at
least appear to do so 80 attractive are
eyebrows that meet that they are called
The " bridge Of love-" The first care,
then, OF the Persian beauty is with
little pencil Of. antimony to unite her
eyebrows, and then she proceeds to
make them appear of unnatural thick
ness. Her eyelashes are penciled, too,
in manner not unknown to our own
countrywomen. BY this time the lady
will have smoked many kalians or
water-pipes. she will have partaken Of
tea, and RECALLED herself with coffee
iced sherberts, too, will not have been
wanting. Her fnger-tips, nails and
palms, No we'll as the soles OF her feet
and her toes, have attained a bright
chestnut hue which will last week.
The hair is carefully washed once more.
1t is seldom under yard long, often
much more, for the Persian woman
never cuts her hair, except in front,
perhaps, when two heavy love-locks
are left on either side Of the face. The
ladies now return home to their noon
day breakfasts. After breakfast there
is generally siesta. and this, in hot
country, is almost necessity. About
4 o'clock tea and pipes appear. and
then the lady receives callers or pays
visits, or, perhaps, does little shop
ping, or takes the air mounted on her
ambling mule or a donkey Of snowy
whiteness. Pail Mall Gazette.